Article by Chamberlane Altatis

You might have been watching a lot of movies and now you wanted to write a story and create your own movie too. For you to do so, you must learn then the Steps on how to write a screenplay:

How to Write a Screenplay Step 1 – Think of A New Story

No matter how good your story is if you just totally adapted it, viewers who know where you got the idea will not be impressed. I admit it’s hard to think a new and unique story today since there were so many stories that were already written. However, I believe you can still be crazy and think of new things. You may adapt a bit from other movies, taking them as inspiration but be sure to put your personal touch on it.

To help you think of those good and interesting ideas, just try to look around you. Be a very observant with what’s going on with people and environment today. When people are talking to each other, try to listen to what they are talking about. You’ll never know you’ll be able to make a good story from those things. Or remember those experiences you had. You know experiences are good basis for a story since they happened in a real life situation. You surely can do it! Since it is a movie, you have the opportunity to invent your own universe may it be a fantasy or real life scenarios. Your imagination is just the limit of what you can write.

In these step, you can already create a title. Just make it catchy.If you still don’t have a title in mind, that’s alright. You can create one later on anyway. Just proceed to the next step.

How to Write a Screenplay Step 2 – Write Your Logline

A logline is a single sentence that describes what your story is all about. This will give focus and drive to where your story will be going. We can say that it is your road map for your story journey. It should be derived from emotions such as love, anger, hatred, whatever. Moreover, it should also revolve around the three C’s – character, conflict, and conclusion.

Let me give you an example of a logline:

"A former leader of a gangster becomes a teacher because of his passion, taming his very naughty students."

If you watched the cartoon movie "Great Teacher Onizuka," this can be the logline that I can make for it.

How to Write a Screenplay Step 3 – Develop Your Character

The next thing to do is to develop your characters. Just list them down with their names, roles, and their personalities in the story. Write also if who is your protagonist and your antagonist and all those supporting characters.

How to Write a Screenplay 4 – Create The Story with Dialogues

You now have a logline and characters so it’s now time to write your story. In writing your story, be guided with the three-act structure:

1. Act 1 – character and conflict is introduced.

2. Act 2 – conflict deepens until it reaches the climax.

3. Act 3 – conflict resolves and leads to a conclusion.

Since you are writing for a movie. learn also to write visually:

1. Express external behaviors through dialogue or physical actions.

2. Show what is happening instead of telling it.

3. Character behaviors, time, place, and mood of a scene are described in the script stage directions.

4. Stage directions are with action verbs in present tense.

5. Don’t overload your stage directions with extraneous details such as camera angles, scene colors etc. (that’s the job of the director and cinematographer).

6. Don’t over-describe the personalities of the characters.

7. Stick to the details that have visual equivalents

How to Write a Screenplay Step 4 – Write the Story in a Screenplay Format

After making the logline, developing the character, and creating the story and dialogues, it’s now time to write those things in a screenplay format. You must then learn the format for a screenplay.

Alright, those are the ways on how to write a screenplay. I guess you’re now ready to write one.

If you need more reference, you can also grab some ebooks about screenwriting.

Screenwriting Tips

Screenwriting Is A Billion Dollar Industry! High School & College Students And Aspiring Writers Often Try To Write The Next Blockbuster Movie Script. This Guide Teaches Ground Breaking Screenwriting Secrets.  Screenplay Writing Secrets!

It all starts with an idea.

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When learning how to write a movie script, the first thing you need is an idea, and your idea needs to fit with the kind of market you’re aiming for. If you are writing something to film yourself on a low budget, then you need to consider things like the number of of locations and how many actors you’ll have to hire. If you’re writing something to sell to Hollywood, then your imagination can be unlimited. Hollywood is always in the market for fantasy, horror and science fiction, as well as more realistic films about day to day life, and historical drama’s.

Your idea needs to hook people quickly. If you can’t explain the basic premise to somebody in very short order, then you’ll have trouble selling the finished script. Usually, ideas that are hard to explain are also hard to watch when they’re turned into movies.  This is an important first step when learning how to write a movie script.

Be visual without crimping the directors style.
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A good screenplay doesn’t get too detailed in the area of visual descriptions and they’re even less detailed when describing actions on screen. Directors like to imagine the film in their own way. A smart screenwriter gives the director just enough to ignite his imagination, without making him or her feel constricted. If you are writing the screenplay for yourself to direct, you may want to be more visual, but that can be a trap. You’ll have the chance to find better ways to do things and if you’re tied to a particular approach, you may miss them.

Good dialogue and realistic dialogue are often very different things.
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When learning how to write a movie script the right way, writing dialogue is absolutely critical for the creation of the screenplay. The subject is too complex to be covered in a short overview like this, but you should notice the way people talk in movies while paying attention to the differences between that and the way people talk in real life. You’ll notice that movie dialogue is actually not that realistic at all. It just gives the illusion of being realistic. People in movies speak in a way that gets to the point very quickly, and they’re always talking about something interesting. They don’t spend their time discussing the weather, they talk about things that are critical to the story. They’re always arguing, and generating dramatic conflict, not just passing time, or making small talk.

If you follow these basic guidelines and you have a little talent, you’ll be on the right track to create a very good screenplay as you learn how to write a movie script.

Learn how to write a movie script the easy way – with creative visualization – Screenwriting Visualization

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The Elements of Screenwriting: A Guide for Film and Television Writers